Dreadnaughts such as the Bismarck help spread terror and disruption amongst enemy forces via their famous raids.  When mixed with other raiders such as the Tirpitz, chaos ensues.  You are now about to participate in these raids!  Disrupt enemy operations with raids of your own where possible, and protect our cities from enemy operations.  Hunt down enemy raiders when they are known to be out in force...  Use our own raids to disrupt the enemy as long as possible before retreating home with our forces.

  There are several major variations for this special mission, and what you face for challenges depends on the specific variation for this battle...

Be the Infamous Raiders...

  For two variations you are in control of the famous raider ships, and will either have a very large Bismarck battleship in your control, or two smaller sister battleships under your control.  Several escorting warships will be located with your raiders.

  The raiders are represented by flagship sized battleships, and have the ability to repair themselves and nearby units by 1 point per turn.  They also "neutralize" nearby enemy cities, preventing the enemy from receiving Victory Points for ownership of those cities.  These raiders also "terrorize" both nearby enemy cities, and neutral cities.

  Your goal is to survive long enough to terrorize as many points worth of neutral and enemy cities as you can during the mission.  Move near cities to terrorize them.  Standing in your way will be quite a few enemy ships in determined pursuit of your forces, with blood in their eyes.  They will not stop till they see your raiding ships destroyed.  Lucky for you, their determination to track down your ships has increased enemy radio traffic to the point where Central Intelligence can easily report the location of these enemy ships to you.  Keep these pursuing ships focused on chasing you, lest they wander off and start attacking your own home cities!

Or the Determined Pursuers...

  The other two variations of this mission put you in charge of chasing down prowling raiders, and making your own cities and neutral cities feel safe despite the raiders in the area.

  When pursuing raiders, you will be given quite a few extra forces at the start of the battle.  Use these extra ships wisely to both chase down the enemy raiders, and to satisfy the increasing demand for patrols in your own cities and nearby neutral cities.  Central Ops will be able to tell you the location of the leader ships (flagship battleships) of the enemy raiding forces, but not their various escorts.

  The reputation of the raiders you face is so great, and the damages wrought in the past so extensive, that all of your cities and neutral cities on the map are going to be demanding protection during this mission.  Each turn a certain amount of warships will be requested across all non-enemy ports.  Keep warships totaling the desired $$ in ports to meet this demand, and be prepared for how desired patrols will increase throughout the battle till the end of the mission.

  The mission summary button and floating mission menu in the game will display more specifics about the desired patrol levels, and how well you are doing at meeting these demands from turn to turn, along with a summary of how you are faring at destroying the enemy raiders.

  The mission button and floating mission menu will describe how the reconnaissance is going.

 Our long term position in this entire region may be affected by how well you fair in these raider / anti-raider operations.  It is vital that you disrupt the enemy as much as possible, while protecting our own interests in the area.  The normal city conquest Victory Points you take during this mission will be adjusted by how well you fare in the mission goals.  This adjustment is made to what would otherwise be your normal cumulative VP total for the game.

 For instance, if you fail to disrupt neutral or enemy cities, or destroy enemy raiders, you will usually be credited only 60% or less of your actual VP total.  If you manage to accomplish about 80% of the mission goals, you will receive credit for 100% of your VP total.  Succeed in all the goals, and you will be credited 120% or more of your actual VP total.

Specific Tips on how to execute the mission start here:

  When playing the role of the raiders, use your escorts to fend off submarines, as your flagship battleships will be particularly vulnerable to them.  Use the repair ability of your raiders to keep your forces alive as long as possible.  Use the revealed location of chasing enemy forces to choose how to extend the life of your raiders as long as possible.  Be sure to try to terrorize two or more cities at a time where possible, especially if you are forced to flee from the warships chasing you.  Lastly, remember that all of these chasing ships will stay focused on your raiders until you destroy them all, or are destroyed in turn.  These forces can be used by the enemy to devastate your other forces on the board if you do not keep them focused on chasing your raider ships!

  When in charge of tracking down enemy raiders, be sure to send forces straight towards the raiders right from the battle start.  If you wait for the raiders to come to you, they might receive reinforcements from nearby cities, and be all the tougher to take on.  When approaching the enemy raiders, beware their escorts, as you will need to use conventional scouting methods to spot and outmaneuver them.  Providing the needed patrols for your own and neutral cities will be tricky.  Make a point of ending each turn with as many warships in convenient city harbors along your way to destinations as possible.  Try to avoid falling behind on requested patrols, as each turn will bring an even larger patrol request, though you will be able to "over-patrol" and catch up for previous turns a bit.

Questions?  Suggestions?  Email thurston@fogstone.com with your feedback, questions, and suggestions!

This manual is broken up into sections explaining how to play the game, how the program menus work, and other details of interest to players of Lost Admiral Returns.  Start at the top to find the different sections.

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